Libraries, Archives, Museums: Anthropology and archaeology in Alaska primary sources: Alaskan Archives

Anthropology and archaeology in Alaska

This guide consists of collections of primary source material held by Alaskan archives, libraries, and museums which relate to anthropology and archaeology in Alaska. This guide is an overview of collections containing significant amounts of material relating to anthropology and archaeology and is not meant to be comprehensive or include every collection containing material related to the topic.

Click on the linked collection names for more detailed descriptions of the collections. Not every collection listed has a description online. For more information about a collection, please contact the institution that owns the collection.

Other institutions outside of Alaska may also hold records relating to anthropology and archaeology in Alaska.

Alaska's Digital Archives has digitized photographs and documents related to anthropologists and archaeologists, including dig sites. Some of these photographs are from collections listed below. The Digital Archives contains moving images, audio, photographs, and documents from various repositories in the state of Alaska and is not its own repository. Please contact the appropriate holding institution for more information about an item or to request an item found on Alaska's Digital Archives.

If you represent an institution that holds primary source material related to anthropology and archaeology in Alaska and you would like to see it included in this guide, please contact the UAA/APU Consortium Library Archives and Special Collections.

Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association

The Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association, located in Anchorage, Alaska, may have audio, film, and video in their collections relating to anthropology and archaeology in Alaska. Please contact them for further information.

Alaska State Archives

The collections listed below are available in the Alaska State Archives in Juneau, Alaska. Further information regarding the collections listed below is by searching the State Archives online catalog using the records group name (i.e. "RG257").

RG251. Office of History and Archaeology. 170-.
The Office of History & Archaeology works to preserve sites and buildings that reflect Alaska's heritage. Its staff of archaeologists, historians and architectural historians oversee the programs to identify, document and restore sites and buildings and to educate Alaskans and visitors about these non-renewable resources.

Alaska State Library Historical Collections

The collections listed below are available in the Alaska State Library Historical Collections in Juneau, Alaska. A majority of the collections listed have links to collection guides that provide further information regarding the contents of those collections.

Frederica de Laguna papers, bulk 1930-1978.
MS 299. Frederica de Laguna studied the ethnology, archaeology, and history of the Northern Tlingit Indians of Southeast Alaska. She also conducted ethnographic investigations of the Atna (Ahtna) Athabaskans and Tanana. The collection contains Dr. de Laguna’s field notes and associated documentation of field work she conducted in Alaska.
Frederica de Laguna Photograph Collection, bulk 1930-1978.
PCA 350. Frederica de Laguna studied the ethnology, archaeology, and history of the Northern Tlingit Indians of Southeast Alaska. She also conducted ethnographic investigations of the Atna (Ahtna) Athabaskans and Tanana. The collection contains photographs taken and collected by Dr. de Laguna during her studies.
Wendell H. Oswalt Photograph Collection, Western Alaska; 1940s-1980s.
PCA 550. Oswalt was Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at University of California, Los Angeles. His research has examined Native American cultures, with particular attention to the Yupik-speaking people in Southwestern Alaska and Inuit-speaking people in Northern Alaska and Canada. The collection consists of color slides relating to Oswalt’s archaeological work in Western Alaska, the Kuskokwim Region, and Iceland.

Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center

The collections listed below are available at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, located in Anchorage, Alaska. The collections listed have links to collection guides that provide further information regarding the contents of those collections.

Henry B. Collins.
B1997.032. Writings and diaries of an archaeologist who worked in Alaska.
Margaret Lantis Collection; circa 1939-1978.
B2010.023. The collection consists of slides, photographic prints, negatives, moving image film, and research notes created by anthropologist Margaret Lantis during her time in Alaska.
Joan Townsend Photographs; 1960-1973.
B2013.066. The collection consists of 440 color 35mm slides and 61 Polaroid color prints created or collected by anthropologist Joan Townsend during field work in Alaska, 1962-1973.

UAA/APU Consortium Library Archives and Special Collections

The collections listed below are available at the UAA/APU Archives and Special Collections in Anchorage, Alaska. The collections listed have links to collection guides that provide further information regarding the contents of those collections.

Ted Bank papers; 1882-1980.
HMC-0068. Papers of an anthropologist and explorer who led expeditions to the Aleutian Islands from 1948-1979 and served as the executive director of the American Institute for Exploration from 1954-1981. The collection includes records of Banks's expeditions, organizational papers of the American Institute for Exploration, drafts and publications by Ted Bank, motion picture film taken in the Aleutian Islands, and almost 10,000 photographs and negatives relating to Alaskan expeditions, the Ainu people, and other subjects.
Paul Guggenheim papers; 1937-2006.
HMC-1095. The materials in the collection primarily pertain to the 1937 Smithsonian expedition to the Aleutians headed by Ales Hrdlicka and to archaeological work done on Amchitka during World War II.
Robert F. Heizer papers; 1949-1956.
HMC-0136. Papers of a California anthropologist that include correspondence, notes, photographs, drafts of manuscripts, and a published article from his study of Koniag Eskimo artifacts of Kodiak Island.
Dorothy M. Jones papers; 1878-1991.
HMC-0458. Papers of a sociologist whose work focused on the lives of Alaska Natives and their communities, especially the Aleut peoples.
William S. Laughlin papers; 1931-1998.
HMC-0360. The papers of a physical anthropologist who worked in the Aleutian Islands.
Charles V. Lucier papers; 1890-2009.
HMC-0165. Papers of a biologist who studied the culture, technology, and artifacts of the Inupiat peoples of the Kotzebue Sound and the Seward Peninsula areas from 1949 to 1953. The collection includes Lucier's photographs, travel journals, field notebooks, culture trait and word lists, reports on marine mammal hunting, articles on Inupiat archaeology and anthropology, and the autobiography of Inupiat nurse and midwife, Della Keats.
Alan G. May papers; 1902-1990.
HMC-0690. Papers of an amateur archaeologist who participated in the Smithsonian Institution's Archaeological Expeditions to the Aleutian Islands from 1936 to 1938 that were led by Dr. Aleš Hrdlicka. The collection includes May's journals, publications, correspondence, and photographs relating to these expeditions.
Frederick A. Milan papers; circa 1943-1995.
HMC-0687. Papers of an anthropologist, linguist, and human physiologist who worked in Alaska and other Arctic regions.
Craig Mishler papers; 1943-2015.
HMC-1300. Craig Mishler is an cultural Alaskan anthropologist and folklorist. The collection contains files related to Mishler’s employment with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which include his work in Kodiak, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill litigation, as well as consulting and field work documenting the impact of the oil spill primarily in Ouzinkie and Old Harbor. The collection also contains genealogical files and interviews with people from Upper Tanana and Tanacross, files relating to the Over-the-Horizon Backscatter Project, and his work with the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Survey at Dot Lake and Big Delta.

University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives Historical Manuscript Collections

The collections listed below are available at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives located in Fairbanks, Alaska. For more detailed collection descriptions, please visit StarArchives, the catalog for archival collections at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and search for the collections using the search box on the main page.

Alaska Anthropological Association Records. 1974- .
USUAFV4-243. The Alaska Anthropological Association Records are an ongoing collection documenting the activities of the Alaska Anthropological Association from 1974. The Association's records include its constitution and by-laws, minutes of its business and board meetings, correspondence, financial papers, and membership lists.
Baggen, Mertie Papers. 1964-1967.
USUAF49. Mertie Baggen was a graduate student at the University of Alaska at the time of her death in the latter part of 1967. Prior to this time, she was gathering data on the social systems of northern Athabaskans with an emphasis on the kinship terminology of Athabaskans of interior Alaska. The collection consists of Baggen’s field notes, charts, and maps.
Black, Lydia T. Papers. 1972-1997.
USUAFV3-271. Dr. Lydia T. Black was an anthropologist whose research involved the Russian period in Alaska and whose translations of records kept by Russian clergy and officials allowed access to the relationships between Aleuts and Russians. The Lydia T. Black Papers consist of correspondence with other anthropologists specializing in northern peoples, as well as articles and news clippings on various aspects of anthropology and archaeology in Alaska.
Burch, Ernest S. Jr. Papers. 1960s-2010.
USUAFV6-627. In the fall of 1966, Burch was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba. He resigned from his position there in 1974 and moved to Pennsylvania, becoming an independent scholar. He made many trips to Alaska researching contemporary Native life in the Arctic, and later, reconstructing Native life, and social organization during the early contact period. Included in this collection are Burch's journals, personal field notes, and personal and professional correspondence. Also included are research notes, field notes, correspondence, planning documents, interview transcripts and related materials for many of Burch's professional projects and publications.
Chaluka Archaeology Collection. 1955.
This collection consists of the report for a 1952 archaeological excavation conducted at the old village site of Chaluka, Alaska.
de Laguna, Frederica. 1933-1985.
USUAFV3-271. Frederica de Laguna studied the ethnology, archaeology, and history of the Northern Tlingit Indians of Southeast Alaska. She also conducted ethnographic investigations of the Atna (Ahtna) Athabaskans and Tanana. The Frederica de Laguna collection consists of song transcripts, notes, correspondence, research papers, interviews, color transparencies, lantern slides, and 35mm slides of the transparencies and lantern slides. Many of the images deal with anthropological expeditions conducted in Alaska in 1933 and 1935.
Dickey, Albert H. Photograph Collection. 1933-1936.
USUAFV6-348. The collection consists of 38 photographs with brief descriptions taken during an archaeological dig in Fairbanks.
Geist, Otto W., Papers. 1927-1963.
USUAF146. Otto Geist was a paleontologist and a member of the University of Alaska faculty. The Otto Geist collection contains correspondence, diaries, reports, notes, specimen catalogues, maps, photographs, and other papers relating to his work on St. Lawrence Island.
Hughes, Charles C. Papers. 1940-1984.
USUAFV4-105. The Charles C. Hughes Papers contain material relating to his work among the St. Lawrence Island Eskimos. Included are life stories, journals, diaries, linguistic data, field notes, life stories, genealogies, and reports.
Lantis, Margaret Papers. 1946-1963.
USUAFV3-15. Margaret Lantis specialized in the anthropology of North America and the circumpolar north. The Margaret Lantis papers consist of correspondence written between 1946 and 1963 concerning her anthropological interests in the Yupik and Inupiaq people of Alaska.
McKennan, Robert Addison, Papers. 1928-1980.
USUAF569. Robert Addison McKennan was a cultural anthropologist, a professor of sociology and anthropology at Dartmouth College, and a reservist in the Air Force. McKennan is best known for his work with the Athabaskans of Alaska. The papers include McKennan's anthropological research, field notes, writings, and photographs, as well as some personal and biographical material. His field notes and journals particularly record his work among the Tanana and Chandalar Kutchin. Related audiotapes are held in the Oral History collection.
Newcomb, Simon J. Papers. 1941-1959.
USUAFV3-22. The Simon J. Newcomb Papers consist of photographs, negatives, papers, reports, and diaries relating to archaeological expeditions in the Kobuk River region, Alaska, with J. Louis Giddings during the 1940s and to the Ungava Project, an effort to establish logging on the George River in northern in Québec in 1959.
Osborne, Richard H. Collection. circa 1965-2001.
USUAFV4-152. Richard H. Osborne is a biological anthropologist with interests in genetic-environment interaction in humans, the Pleistocene-Holocene transition of central Alaska, and human variability. The collection consists of correspondence, newsclippings and photographs relating to Osborne's work on a publication about Florence Nupok [Florence Napaaq Malewotuk].
Oswalt, Wendell H. Papers. 1955-1967, (Oswalt, Wendell; 1 folder formerly Russian America VFMS).
Wendell H. Oswalt was an anthropologist specializing in the Eskimo peoples. The Wendell H. Oswalt Papers consist of carbon copies of anthropological field notes recorded by Oswalt in Bethel, Alaska, from September 1955 through August 1956.
Rainey, Froehlich Papers. 1931-1947.
USUAF262. Froehlich Rainey was Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum and Applied Science Center for Archaeology and was a professor of anthropology at the University of Alaska from 1933-1947. His archaeological research in Alaska was among the earliest to support the theory that the first North American settlers crossed from Asia by way of the Bering Strait. This collection contains Rainey's business and personal correspondence, diaries describing his archaeological fieldwork, Inupiat stories, hand-drawn maps, brochures, publications, and Rainey's genealogical charts of Point Hope, done in the 1930s.
Ray, Dorothy Jean Papers. circa 1919-2004 (Dorothy Jean Ray Papers).
USUAFV6-999. Ray moved to Nome with her first husband in 1945, which is when her interest in anthropology began. She began researching and publishing books related to art and ethnohistory of the Inupiaq and Yupik. The papers include Ray’s research files.
Riddell, Francis A. Papers. 1950-1954 [bulk].
USUAFV5-166. The Francis A. Riddell Papers consist of correspondence, archaeological reports, archaeological field notes and notebooks, field diaries, ethnographic notes, and photographs pertaining to Riddell's work in the Yakutat and Angoon areas of Alaska in the early 1950s. Riddell participated as a crewmember in Frederica de Laguna's archaeological and ethnographic work near Angoon in the summer of 1950, and served as de Laguna's archaeological field foreman for excavations at the Old Town site near Yakutat, Alaska, in the summers of 1952 and 1953.
Skarland, Dr. Ivar Papers. 1933-1964.
USUAF292. Skarland graduated from the Alaska Agricultural College and School of mines in 1935 and received a Master's degree and Doctorate in Anthropology from Harvard University. He served as Head of the Anthropology Department at the University of Alaska from 1946 to 1965. The Dr. Ivar Skarland Papers contain correspondence, photographs, and field books relating to Skarland's anthropological expeditions and travels in Alaska, reports by Skarland and others, and a resource file of lecture notes and bibliographies.

University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Film Archives

The list below includes collections held by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska Film Archives located in Fairbanks, Alaska.

[Alyeska pipeline archaeology]. 1974.
AAF-13. Contains scenes of archaeological surveying along the proposed Trans-Alaska Pipeline route to verify the number of potential sites of archaeological significance. Carried out by Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
[Dr. Loyens anthropology lecture: end of part 1]. 1972.
AAF-6657. Video is a portion of an anthropology lecture about language taught by Dr. Loyens at UAF during 1972.
[Elder youth conference in Point Hope, tapes 1 to 4]. 2011.
AAF-16965—AAF-16968. In the video, a man explains the anthropological history of the land near Point Hope, Alaska, including whaling, excavations, graves, and the way people used to live in that area.
[Excavation at Kukulik]. Between 1928 and 1935.
AAF-75. Images at Kukulik include scientists crating artifacts, excavation site, Eskimo man cleaning dead reindeer (?), sled dogs pulling sled on tundra during summer.
[Excavation at Kukulik]. Between 1928 and 1935.
AAF-76. Images of four masted sailing ship, Kukulik excavation site, Eskimo men pulling umiak on shore, and University of Alaska buildings and bus.
Fascination for the past, treasures of the past, respect for the past. Circa 1982-1983.
AAF-3984—AAF-3986. Part 1 (AAF-3984) host Ida Anaver explains how archaeology helps provide ancestral history for Southwestern Alaskan. Archaeologist Bob Shaw talks with students at Goodnews Bay - Rocky Mountain High School about how excavation provides evidence about the lives of ancestors. Part 2 (AAF-3985) host Ina Anaver explains how artifacts help researchers learn about cultures. Archaeologist Bill Fitzhugh shows artifacts in the Smithsonian Institution, the role Edward Nelson played in gathering artifacts in Southwest Alaska shortly after Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 is explained. Part 3 (AAF-3986) includes archaeologists Henry Collins, Susan Kaplan, Bill Fitzhugh and Bob Shaw explaining the archaeological process and how it relates to Southwest Alaska.
[KTVF news stories]. 2000.
AAF-10577. This collection contains various news footage from 2000, which includes archaeologist Robin Mills describes working with school students and Bob Sattler of Tanana Chief Conference discusses role of archaeology in Alaska and discovery of body in river.
[KTVF news stories, archaeology digs, Fairbanks homes]. 1975.
AAF-6057. Scenes from archaeological dig near Gulkana River, and interviews with archaeologists.
[Kukulik excavation, agriculture and villages]. Circa 1926 and 1935.
AAF-66—AAF-67. Includes images of excavation at Kukulik mound on St. Lawrence Island.
[Kukulik Excavation]. Between 1928 and 1935.
AAF-68. Excavation at Kukulik mound includes Eskimo men digging, Eskimo men pulling umiak ashore, frame building with group of Caucasians standing in front, and buildings and a bus at the University of Alaska.
Larry Merculieff and Lydia Black on Aleut culture. 1985.
AAA-851. Larry Merculieff is head of the Pribiloff Islands Native Corporation. Lydia Black is Professor of Anthropology specializing in Aleuts and Russian/Aleut period.
[St. Lawrence Island excavation]. Between 1928 and 1935.
AAF-56. Kukulik excavation site, human remains, scientists and residents work in excavation, Eskimo men wrestle on beach, excavation site, group of unidentified Eskimo girls pose for photographer, Fourth of July games on St. Lawrence Island, worker reconstructs piece of armor, workers excavate site, unidentified people have tea with Russian Orthodox Church, unidentified Eskimo family.
[Saint Lawrence Island and Kukulik excavation]. Circa 1928-1935.
AAF-59. Images of rock and ice formations, Eskimo men carry dead birds, two Caucasian men empty "honey bucket" in ocean near archaeological site on Saint Lawrence Island, group of people at roadside picnic in Interior Alaska, and Indian couple with six pack-dogs.
[Saint Lawrence Island life]. Between 1928 and 1935.
AAF-82. Activity on St. Lawrence Island includes Gambell residents herding and castrating reindeer, excavation at Kukulik, Caucasian children playing, men in boats, butchering whale and small boat with sail.
[Saint Lawrence Island life]. Between 1928 and 1935.
AAF-85. Images on St. Lawrence Island include Eskimo men jumping from boardwalk, women and children posing for camera, men practicing two-foot high kick, Kukulik excavation site, skeletal remains, Otto Geist cleaning samples and smoking pipe, and Eskimo women carrying buckets.
[SIZONET: student interviews and informed consent]. 2008.
AAF-13065—AAF-13067. Members of the visual anthropology and scientific documentary digital video class discuss their thoughts on flowers, seasons, and their personal lives. Students include Samuel German, Archana Bali, and Paula Daabach.
[UAF promos and historical footage compilations]. 1995.
AAF-10149—AAF-10153. Topics covered include aquatics, archaeology, earth sciences, ethnology, plants, and animals. Program includes excerpts from the documentaries “At the Time of Whaling” and “Drums of Winter.”
Why men hunt. Circa 1984.
AAF-5880. Follows various hunters in Alaska--subsistence, sports, trophy--examining how and why they hunt.

University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Oral History Program may have collections that relate to this topic. Please contact them, or search their catalogs, for further information.

Credits

This guide is supported in whole or in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Alaska State Library.